Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story nearly stole one of the Stranger Things season 4 crowns, according to new data from Netflix.
According to the streaming giant's latest roundup of its Top 10 TV Shows list (opens in a new tab), the deeply haunting drama series racked up nearly 300 million hours of views in its second week on Netflix. This makes it the second most-watched original English-language series, over a seven-day period, in Netflix history. Stranger Things season 4 is the only English-language show to have performed better in a week.
That's not all either. Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story's 299,84 million hours watched for the week of September 26-October 2 represents a 65% increase over release week viewing figures. For context, the Netflix show racked up 196,2 million hours watched in its first seven days after launch.
In total, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has amassed 496,05 million hours of viewing since its debut on Netflix. According to the streamer, that equates to 56 million households watching the show from start to finish.
More amazing still, Monster's huge viewing figures make it the ninth most popular Netflix show of all time. Read it again, in case it didn't leak: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is the ninth biggest TV series on Netflix. Already. And this position was earned after only 12 days. Even Netflix's other hit shows like The Umbrella Academy, You, Cobra Kai, and Shadow and Bone can't boast such numbers.
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story could outperform other hugely popular shows, including The Witcher and Bridgerton, in the viewership numbers department. It has already surpassed 484 million hours of viewing for The Witcher season 2, and that figure was accumulated within 28 days of season 2 launching in December 2021.
Meanwhile, Monster is close to surpassing The Witcher season 1 (541 million hours), Bridgerton season 1 (625,49 million hours) and Bridgerton season 2 (656,16 million hours) – these three cumulative figures over the past three years. first 28 days of each post-break season as well.
Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer series has been so dominant, in fact, that Dynasty season 44,6's 5 million-hour watch rate ranked a distant second on Netflix's updated list of the top 10 TV series. Meanwhile, The Sandman is the only Netflix original show, since Stranger Things 4, since August that comes close to Monster's weekly numbers.
Simply put, it just goes to show that any show can become a global phenomenon if the right conditions are in place. Just watch Squid Game for more proof of this.
(*4*)Analysis: Why has Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story proved so popular?
There are apparently three reasons for Monster's success: the story it tells, its gender positioning, and the help of negative publicity.
For starters, Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer series is inspired by true events. It tells the story of American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. It is a story spanning nearly two decades that has gripped the United States and the rest of the world, exploring his gruesome and macabre crimes. in an extremely haunting, heartbreaking and shocking way details. And that is putting it lightly.
Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer also seems like the right choice, if such terminology can be used in this context, for Netflix. The streaming giant has become the go-to platform for documentaries (check out our list of the best Netflix documentaries) and docu-dramas about mass murderers, with its Conversations With a Murderer series a particularly moody yet compelling watch. So it seems that Netflix subscribers can't get enough of shows like Monster.
Then there's the negative press that Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has garnered since its release. Many viewers revealed that they were unable to complete the series due to the extremely painful and graphic content. Meanwhile, Kim Alsup, a production assistant on the show, has criticized Netflix for the way she was treated on set, saying it was "one of the worst shows" she's ever worked on (according to Entertainment Weeky (it was reported). opens in a new tab)) . In an interview with the LA Times (opens in a new tab), Alsup also said the trailer for the show gave him PTSD. Relatives of Dahmer's murder victims also spoke in the LA Times article, with some accusing Netflix of profiting from his trauma.
Combined, these three factors appear to have given Monster a significant boost and persuaded Netflix audiences to watch the series. Those who saw it probably discussed it at length with friends, co-workers, and adult family members, and word of mouth is likely to increase its popularity as well.
Like Stranger Things and Squid Game before it, Netflix's Jeffrey Dahmer series has become an unlikely hit for the streaming giant. It will be exciting to see if Monster breaks any more records in the coming weeks.
For more Netflix-based coverage, check out our list of the best Netflix movies, see what's coming out of the streamer in October, or read every new movie coming to Netflix before the end of 2022.
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